Cargill Plant in Eddyville Goes Under Lockdown After Receiving Threat Against Plant

Security at the Eddyville Cargill facility was increased in response to a threat to employees at that location on Tuesday afternoon and evening. (photo D.Hubbard)

Eddyville — The corn milling facility located near the town of Eddyville, Iowa was under lock down Tuesday evening. Kaye DeLange, Corn Milling Facility Manager for Cargill in Eddyville made the following comment about the increase in police and security presence, “We do know that there was a  threat that was made against the employees that work at this facility, and so we took all of those threats very seriously. We immediately contacted law enforcement personnel, and are working diligently with them. Our primary concern is the safety of our employees and the community. We have policies and procedures that govern situations like this and so those are in full operation. All of our employees are safe, no one has been injured and law enforcement is really handling the situation.”

The plant is still in operation, and all shifts are continuing.

Mahaska County Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation into the threat against the employees at the facility. Charges have just been filed in the case, and the investigation is ongoing at this point with one more person of interest yet to be interviewed. One male and one female are involved in the incident. Mahaska County Deputy Doug McMillan said they received a phone call at 4:00 from the female saying that the male was going down to Cargill to shoot somebody over a personal matter.

Deputies went to the residence of who made the call, while Monroe County Sheriffs office went to Cargill and that is when the plant went into its lockdown. The State Patrol, Marion County and Mahaska County law enforcement continued the search for the caller and the guy with a gun.

After several attempts to contact the female, the Mahaska County Sheriffs Department finally reestablished contact with her by phone. The female returned home, where Deputy McMillan happened to be in her driveway when she returned.

Upon her return, the deputy observed that she had allowed an underage juvenile to drive the car. While they were in the rural county, near Tracy, the female had been driving the vehicle.

The female, upon contact on the phone, had sounded intoxicated and upon returning was tested for and subsequently charged with OWI by the Iowa State Patrol. Meanwhile Mahaska County is charging her with 2 counts of child endangerment, as there were 2 juveniles in the car.

Jennifer Bonnett of 3328 Ashland Ave. is, at this point, now in jail pending the 3 current charges.

The male in the case is still being questioned by Mahaska County Deputies to determine if he made the threat towards Cargill.

If the male subject in the case is cleared of wrong doing, Jennifer Bonnett could also be charged with making false reports.

A criminal charge is merely a criminal charge and not an indication of guilt. All suspects should be considered innocent until proven guilty.